Asus Zenfone 2 Z00ADA ZE551ML, camera circuit board, black body of the round selfie camera connector is cracked. This is unrepairable. Photo 8 by Don Tai
Our Asus Zenfone 2 Z00ADA ZE551ML smartphone has a broken camera. The selfie camera simply does not initialize in the camera app, which says it is not there. We wondered why. There are a lot of complaints about this broken camera, so the problem seems common. We decided to take the phone apart, to take a look and ensure that all the electrical connections were tight. What we found was that the electrical socket that connects to the selfie camera was very cracked. The socket is so small as to be irreparable. This socket could not have been damaged by wear and tear, as all the other components around the selfie camera, including the forward facing camera, are in pristine condition.
Bad on Asus for not fixing the problem in the first place. Bad on Asus for designing the phone so that if the selfie camera is broken the rear facing camera also does not work. Why are the two cameras in series? They both have independent connections.
There is more wrong about this phone. The battery seems to be short lived, and the glass top seems to be loose.
We went online and found a couple of youtube videos on Zenfone 2 disassembly. This one was the best as it was zoomed in more. Still, we made some mistakes. The phone was glued in on one side with a very thick bead of solicone, which would not release. Instead of being able to remove the battery we could only tilt it lengthwise to one side.
There were three ribbon connectors held in using black and white connectors: the battery, selfie and forward facing cameras. These black and white connectors required you to flip up the “door” before it would release the ribbon. These are called zero insertion force (ZIF) connectors. The battery connector used a white connector with a black door. It was covered with yellow adhesive tape. The two cameras used white connectors with black doors. You carefully flip these doors up and the ribbon is released. Note that all these connectors are very delicate and very easy to damage. They are not made for repeated opening and closing, so be judicious in how many times you open and close these doors.
The battery also has 3 flip-up connectors that are actually oval. These are easier to open and are made more robust. The antenna is a single button type connector, easy to open and close.
Once you remove the rear phone cover and all the side screws you can remove the black cover, the one with cutouts. The two sim slots and SDA car slot are visible. The cover is held in place with double sided tape, so carefully use a thin blade and cut under the cover. The cover will then release.
Asus Zenfone 2 Z00ADA ZE551ML, rear cover and perimeter screws removed, inner cover removed. Photo 1 by Don Tai
You can now remove the speaker cover. It is loosely held in place and can be easily jiggled free. Once removed you should see the battery connector, covered with yellow translucent tape. The battery connector is white with a black flip up door.
Asus Zenfone 2 Z00ADA ZE551ML, rear cover and perimeter screws, inner cover, speaker cover removed. Battery connector visible in yellow. Photo 2 by Don Tai
Remove the translucent yellow tape and keep. Flip up the black door of the white battery connector and the battery ribbon will release. on the opposite side of the battery, nearer to the cameras, are three rectangular connectors. These all easily flip up. There is also the antenna connector, which you need to remove.
At this point the battery should be almost free. Try to carefully pry the battery up. Ours, on the lower side, cameras to the right, was sealed in with a thick bead of silicone, and would not release. The camera board has a small ribbon on the top, covered in yellow translucent tape, that needs to release. Carefully ease it out of the connector, as it is only held in by friction. The camera board is adhered onto the case with a thick copper coloured sticker, under the battery. You will need to slip a thin screwdriver under the battery in order to pry up the sticker. Once the sticker is released from under the battery, be careful with the first rectangular connector, the camera circuit board should come free.
Asus Zenfone 2 Z00ADA ZE551ML, rear cover and perimeter screws, inner cover, speaker cover, camera circuit board removed. Photo 3 by Don Tai
Asus Zenfone 2 Z00ADA ZE551ML, camera circuit board, front facing camera side. The copper tail sticker adheres to under the battery. Photo 4 by Don Tai
Inspect both camera ribbons and their black connectors and white doors. Both connectors are on the same side. The square camera is the front facing camera and the round camera is the selfie camera.
Asus Zenfone 2 Z00ADA ZE551ML, camera circuit board, camera connectors side. The copper tail sticker adheres to under the battery. Photo 5 by Don Tai
In our case inspection of the selfie camera connector clearly shows a large crack on the black body of the connector. As the connector is so small this is unrepairable. The complete camera circuit board would need to be replaced. This may be the reason that the selfie camera is not functioning.
Asus Zenfone 2 Z00ADA ZE551ML, camera circuit board, black body of the round selfie camera connector is cracked. This is unrepairable. The front facing camera connector is intact. Photo 7 by Don Tai
Asus Zenfone 2 Z00ADA ZE551ML, camera circuit board, black body of the round selfie camera connector is cracked. This is unrepairable. Photo 8 by Don Tai
It is clear that the phone had been taken care of and that no other damage was observed inside the phone. The ribbon connectors used by Asus are flimsy and prone to crack. This failure of the selfie camera should not have occurred and shows a bad design on the part of Asus. The camera is tricky to take apart and is not made to service.
You observe a lot when you take apart someone’s engineering. I would stay away from Asus products as they are flimsy from the inside, where you cannot see.
Asus Zenfone diagnostics: phone, *#*#4636#*#*
